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Your support makes all the difference.Martin Brundle appeared last night to be the front runner for the Jordan- Peugeot drive vacated by Eddie Irvine's departure to Ferrari.
Brundle, currently with Ligier-Peugeot, is competing for the job with fellow Briton Johnny Herbert who is to be released by Benetton-Renault. Jordan will announce their choice today, as the Formula One roadshow arrives at the Nurburgring in Germany, for Sunday's Grand Prix of Europe.
Irvine said yesterday that partnering world champion Michael Schumacher at Ferrari next year would be the ultimate challenge. "It will be good to see how Schumacher works, and hopefully I can learn a few things from him," the driver from Northern Ireland said.
Irvine has already spoken to Schumacher's manager, Willy Weber. "I think we'll have a good understanding. I'm sure we'll both try to help each other as much as possible," he added.
Jordan confirmed before last weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix that Irvine would continue to drive for them in 1996, but five days later it was announced he would join Ferrari. Asked how the situation could have changed so quickly, Irvine said it was "because the approach from Ferrari was only made over the weekend".
Irvine said he did not think he would be particularly under pressure at the Italian team. "I don't think I could be under more pressure than I was right at the start of my F1 career. I was thrust into the limelight from day one by the Senna incident, and then had to cope with a three- race ban shortly after. To me, that was pressure," he said.
After finishing sixth in his Formula One debut in Japan in 1993, Ayrton Senna criticised Irvine for his driving, and threw a punch at him. In the first 1994 race, he was involved in a crash involving four cars and was banned for one race - increased controversially to three races, reportedly in part because of his extremely laid-back attitude at the appeal hearing.
"I think I coped well then and I'm much more experienced and better equipped to cope now," he said.
Although he has had only two full seasons in Formula One, Irvine said he was "quite confident" he could do a good job at Ferrari. "I have experience of racing all round the world in various different formulae," he said. "I'm a quick learner."
Asked if he would learn Italian, Irvine joked about his strong Northern Ireland accent and said: "There's some might say I should try and learn English first."
He said he hoped to test a Ferrari for the first time shortly after the last race of the season in Adelaide.
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